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Iran Successfully Tests Medium-Range Missile

Tehran Times 26 July 1998

Iran has successfully tested a long-range missile, Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani announced yesterday. The weapon has a range of 13,00 kilometers (800 miles) and an amount of 600 million dollars was spent to acquire this capability. The new missile has been developed by Iranian experts without any help from other countries, the defense minister said. It is an absolutely deterrent measure, Shamkhani said adding, given the developments in the nearby and faraway regions we had to invest in defensive measures to perpetuate peace. The main objective of acquiring this weapon is to beef up Iran's self-defense capabilities, Shamkhani said yesterday. Although some analysts opine the missile may change the strategic balance of the region, it would not be out of place to mention that Israel has already gained inter-continental missiles. It is also an established fact that Israel has at least 250 nuclear warheads that can be easily launched by its missiles. Since the victory of Islamic Revolution Iran has not fired a single bullet towards its neighbors. Iran was a victim of an eight-year imposed war by Iraq. Baghdad received the support of the U.S. and other Western countries in its war against Iran. Even some of the Persian Gulf states pumped huge amounts of money into Iraqi war machine. But after the war ended Iran extended a brotherly hand towards all its neighbors including the Arab states of the Persian Gulf. Due to the propaganda of the Zionist-oriented media the Arab states of the Persian Gulf did not trust Iran for a long time. But finally they realized Iran's sincerity in its call for brotherly relations to reduce the need for the presence of foreign powers. Today Iran maintains a brotherly relation with all states of the Persian Gulf who consider Iran's strength as their own. Iran's access to intermediate missile will definitely boost the collective defense power of Muslim countries against their common enemy. Iran is also a gate to Central Asia and therefore Iran's security and stability will definitely boost regional development.